earticle

영어

Chytridiomycosis is a devastating disease that causes a decline in the amphibian population (Stuart et al., 2004) worldwide. Recently, the fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) emerged as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity due to its ability to affect amphibian species across all continents (James et al., 2015). A growing number of studies have examined the role of amphibian adaptive immunity in response to this pathogen, with varying degrees of immune activation (Carey et al., 1999). Variations in the susceptibility of B. gargarizans to chytridiomycosis, pathogen virulence, and environmental factors have been well documented (Tobler and Schmidt 2010). Anurans infected with B. dendrobatidis also change its mate choice, a choice which is significantly determined by the genetic variation in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules of the host. Furthermore, it is known that the MHC gene polymorphism also contributes to chytridiomycosis resistance (Savage et al., 2011; Bataille et al., 2015). Amphibians are host to a diverse community of microbes on their skin and some of the bacterial species are known to protect their host from the lethal fungal pathogen B. dendrobatidis, by secreting antifungal metabolites (Becker et al., 2015). Recently, microbiome variation across amphibian skin regions has been reported (Bataille et al., 2016) but there are no reports on the role of the skin microbiome and its relationship with Bd resistance and animal behaviour of B. gargarizans. The objectives of this study are to characterize the skin microbiome diversity of B. gargarizans collected from two locations in South Korea, and to correlate with MHC diversity, Bd resistance and animal behaviour (mating choice). In order to analyse the skin microbiome diversity, metagenomics sequencing of 16S rRNA will be used. Exploring the skin microbiome diversity of B. gargarizans would be useful for understanding the differential immune response to B. dendrobatidis. The results of the study may also help us understand the association of different selection pressures (geographical variation, nutrition, pesticides, antibiotics, and other environmental factors) in the evolution of host-microbial diversity and virulence. The findings will contribute to our understanding of how host immune system and symbiotic bacteria interact to confer disease resistance and provide cues used in mate choice that is important in maintaining immunogenetic variation within populations.